Some companies don’t have an IT strategy. Instead, they develop their business goals and then cobble together IT services to support those goals. This approach delivers poor results and requires constant adjustments to your IT arsenal. You will be much more successful if you develop and align business goals and IT strategy from the beginning.
No business can thrive in today’s market without a well-thought-out approach to IT. Aligning these key factors in a comprehensive IT strategy leads to the following.
Faster Time-To-Market
A company’s financial health and growth are tied to their time-to-market (TTM) metric. A clumsy workflow slows this process and can often be caused by inadequate software, duplication of tasks and poor production and shipping tracking. When you set your ideal TTM, you must have the right IT tools in place to make it happen. A managed service provider can work with you to align your IT with your business goals to get your product to market as quickly as possible.
Increased Profitability
A faster TTM allows you to beat your competitors to the punch and start seeing greater revenue. Other IT factors also help with profitability. The right software programs can capture customer information and then use that information to increase sales. You can also identify which departments are underperforming and why.
Advanced software allows you to research and identify markets for your products as well as helps you set the best price points for these items. A managed service provider can also provide SaaS or MSaaS that will save you significant money on your IT efforts.
Better Customer Experience
Most companies place improving customer service high on their list of goals, but achieving this requires a coordinated IT effort. Customers want a personalized experience, and the right software can provide just that. Customers expect chatbots that know their names and that can instantly route them to the right department or person.
They like to be guided to products and services that are similar to their earlier purchases. Certain perks like a help desk that operates 24/7 and responds in minutes can set your company apart as being ultra client focused. This particular business goal cannot be achieved without an in-depth IT strategy.
Greater Industry and IT Agility
In business, the difference between having a good year and a disastrous one is the ability to adjust operations on the fly. 2020 and all of the curveballs it has thrown at the economy is a prime example of this need. Some companies have maintained profitability or even improved their finances by offering pandemic services, including new delivery operations and methods for obtaining food, clothing, education, etc.
Most of these changes relied on IT agility, which allowed businesses to quickly shift their modes of operation. For instance, the number of grocery deliveries skyrocketed and required new software to meet consumer needs. Human resources IT was needed to work out new employee schedules and compensation. The entire company/customer dynamic changed and needed IT efforts to manage.
Controlling and Managing Risk and Compliance Issues
You must stay in compliance with industry standards to avoid fines, steer clear of lawsuits and retain your good reputation. Fortunately, compliance and security software has made this task far easier. An IT strategy can help you better protect sensitive information and avoid exposing your clients to hackers and identity thieves.
This step is particularly important in the medical industry where HIPAA standards must be followed. Your IT department or managed service provider can determine the best and most cost-efficient way to meet all legal standards and protect your customers. Practically, you cannot expect to stay in compliance without an IT strategy.
Improved Collaboration
In a high-tech world, you would expect a superior level of communication among co-workers; but too often, different departments in a company do not talk to each other. When teams do not communicate well, they often duplicate work, fail to catch errors and clog up the workflow. Your IT efforts can foster collaboration by allowing everyone working on a project to quickly access needed information and share their thoughts with other departments.
Your employees should have a number of communication options and have portability—meaning they can work on their projects from several secure computing devices from different locations. Improved communication fosters teamwork and productivity.
In reality, business goals must align with IT strategy. Otherwise, your business process will flounder. Your IT needs to be considered part of every business goal you develop. You might be able to run an actual lemonade stand without an IT element, but even that endeavor would be improved by point-of-sale software.
In 2020, IT strategy is business strategy. Your success depends on fully incorporating it into your company’s plans. Contact us at AxiaTP today to figure out how you can use IT to your company’s advantage.
